Carriers cautious of bringing freighters back
Demand recovering, but overcapacity a constant threat
Freighter operators remain cautious about introducing additional capacity, for fear of being exposed to overcapacity in the future.
Robert van de Weg, senior VP for sales and marketing at Cargolux, said the recent recovery in global air freight demand meant the carrier was currently short of capacity, and cautiously looking at bringing in more.
He said: “We obviously don’t want to take excessive risks – we have only had a few months of the pick-up.”
Lufthansa Cargo (LC) said it had also had a good start to the year, with volumes up 18% in January and yields seeing some recovery – albeit to a level below those of 2007 and 2008.
But the carrier still had four aircraft on the ground, and would only bring them back if both yields and volumes justified it, and said it did not expect them back in service this year.
However, LC is expecting to get the capacity of four additional B777 freighters this year through its Aerologic joint-venture with DHL Express.
Weekday capacity will be taken by DHL, but responsibility for selling the capacity at weekends rests with LC.
One freighter operator told IFW that, in addition to the immediate commercial issues of making sure there was sufficient demand to justify bringing in more capacity, there was a psychological component for some airlines that had recently parked-up aircraft.
“It is a major decision to take capacity out of the market, so some may be reluctant to reverse a decision they only recently made,” he said.
See Air Freight Focus: Strong start for air freight out of Asia for further analysis
Robert van de Weg, senior VP for sales and marketing at Cargolux, said the recent recovery in global air freight demand meant the carrier was currently short of capacity, and cautiously looking at bringing in more.
He said: “We obviously don’t want to take excessive risks – we have only had a few months of the pick-up.”
Lufthansa Cargo (LC) said it had also had a good start to the year, with volumes up 18% in January and yields seeing some recovery – albeit to a level below those of 2007 and 2008.
But the carrier still had four aircraft on the ground, and would only bring them back if both yields and volumes justified it, and said it did not expect them back in service this year.
However, LC is expecting to get the capacity of four additional B777 freighters this year through its Aerologic joint-venture with DHL Express.
Weekday capacity will be taken by DHL, but responsibility for selling the capacity at weekends rests with LC.
One freighter operator told IFW that, in addition to the immediate commercial issues of making sure there was sufficient demand to justify bringing in more capacity, there was a psychological component for some airlines that had recently parked-up aircraft.
“It is a major decision to take capacity out of the market, so some may be reluctant to reverse a decision they only recently made,” he said.
See Air Freight Focus: Strong start for air freight out of Asia for further analysis
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